1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a bill processing device used in automatic vending machines, change machines, pachinko ball dispensers, token dispensers, and various other types of automatic service equipment, and in particular to a bill processing device designed to reliably prevent bill extraction and other types of tampering. In addition, this invention relates in general to a bill processing device which conveys inserted bills along a bill conveying channel, and accepts and stores them in a bill receptacle, and in particular to a bill processing device in which bill removal operations are facilitated if bill jamming occurs in the bill conveying channel.
2. Description of Related Art
A bill processing device used in an automatic vending machine or other piece of automatic service equipment is configured in such a way that a bill inserted into a bill insertion slot is conveyed into the device using a conveyor belt driven by a conveying motor, and allowed to travel past the mounting position of a bill identification sensor; the bill identified as authentic based on the output from the bill recognition sensor is temporarily held (escrowed); the temporarily held bill (hereinafter "the escrow bill") is then returned to the bill insertion slot by the reverse rotation of the aforementioned conveying motor if a bill return command has been generated; and the escrow bill is deposited in a stacker if a stacking command has been generated.
In view of this, known structures adopted for conventional bill processing devices involved installing a lever-shaped shutter in the bill conveying channel to prevent the aforementioned escrow bills from being tampered with.
Specifically, this shutter is configured in such a way that it opens if a bill has been inserted into the bill insertion slot, and the bill conveying channel is blocked before it is established by the bill identification sensor that the bill is authentic, making any further manipulation of the temporarily held (escrowed) escrow bill from the bill insertion slot impossible.
The shutter of a conventional device, however, is shaped as a lever, and this shutter is configured in such a way that it is driven by a solenoid and operates under its own weight when the bill conveying channel is to be blocked, and this makes it possible to open the shutter easily by, for example, attaching a tape or the like to the bill, inserting the bill into the bill insertion slot, and pulling on the tape after the bill has been temporarily held (escrowed), and to subsequently take out through the bill insertion slot the escrow bill that has reached the escrowed state, or to perform other fraudulent acts.
To address this situation and to reliably prevent escrow bills from being tampered with, it has been proposed to employ bill processing devices configured in such a way that a shutter driven by a shutter motor is installed in the bill insertion slot, and the following operations are performed if it is detected that the shutter has been improperly opened or if it is detected that a bill temporarily held in the holding unit is moving backward:
(1) The shutter motor is again set into operation and is again driven in the direction of shutter closure, PA1 (2) The bill temporarily held in the holding unit is forcibly transported into a stacking unit and stacked there, PA1 (3) An amount equal to the value of the bill held in the holding unit is forcibly deducted from the inserted amount, PA1 (4) Bill acceptance is compulsorily prohibited during a certain time. PA1 (1) a first detection means that detects the light transmitted amount of returned bills and identifies the returned bills as abnormally returned bills if the light transmitted amount is found to be smaller than the light transmitted amount corresponding to that of a single bill, PA1 (2) a second detection means that determines whether or not there is an interval between the returned bills during the return of the bills, and identifies the returned bills as abnormally returned bills if it is established that there is an interval, and PA1 (3) a third detection means that detects the length of returned bills during the return of the bills and identifies the returned bills as abnormally returned bills if the returned bill length thus determined exceeds the length corresponding to that of a single bill, wherein the forcible intake means introduces the returned bills into the stacking unit and forcibly stacks them there if the first detection means or the second detection means has identified the returned bills as abnormally returned bills, and a abnormal-state signalling means stops the operation involving the return of the returned bills and indicates the presence of an abnormal state if the third detection means has identified the returned bills as abnormally returned bills.
Such a structure, however, is still disadvantageous in that, for example, an altered bill that cannot be stacked in the stacking unit, such as a longitudinally cut-apart bill that has been joined together by means of tape or the like, is used; another bill is introduced following the altered bill; and an operation is performed in which the tape or other material connected to the bills is used to simultaneously pull out the subsequently introduced bill together with the altered bill by initiating, for example, a bill return operation after the altered bill has been stacked, with the result that stacking is improperly registered despite the actual absence of stacked bills in the stacking unit.
In addition, as a general rule, bill processing devices which determine whether or not the inserted bills are authentic, and accept and store only the bills identified as authentic are mounted inside the chassis of automatic vending machines and other types of bill handling equipment.
Such a bill processing device comprises a bill conveying unit that conveys the bills inserted into the bill insertion slot into the chassis of the device along a bill conveying channel, a data read unit that reads the data used to determine whether the conveyed bills are authentic or not, and a bill depository that accepts and stores the conveyed bills.
A disadvantage of the aforementioned conventional bill processing devices is that if a bill has jammed in the bill conveying channel, it is necessary to perform an operation which involves removing the jammed bill by opening or otherwise manipulating a part of the bill conveying channel, but it is in no way certain that a bill is present in the opened part of the bill conveying channel, and the bill removal operation is very time-consuming and impairs operability.
As a general rule, bill processing devices designed to determine the authenticity of the inserted bills and to accept and store only the bills identified as authentic are mounted inside automatic vending machines and other types of bill handling equipment.
Broadly classified, such bill processing devices comprise a bill conveying channel which is connected to the bill insertion slot and which guides the bills inserted into the bill insertion slot into the device, a bill recognition means for determining the authenticity of the conveyed bills, and bill receiving means for performing sequential collection and storage by forcibly pushing the bills identified as authentic into the stack.
Meanwhile, the present applicants, aiming at preventing the bills already inserted into the bill insertion slot from being forcibly extracted through the bill insertion slot, have previously proposed in Japanese Patent Application 5-276592 that the bill conveying channel connected to the bill insertion slot be equipped with a shutter means that forcibly opens and closes the bill conveying channel by the driving force of a motor, and that this shutter means close the bill conveying channel following the passage of the inserted bills and prevent the bills from being forcibly extracted through the bill insertion slot.
FIG. 35 is a general front view showing the shutter means 132 of the bill processing device previously proposed by the present applicants. The shutter means 132 comprises a first plate 150 secured to a front mask (described below) in which a bill insertion slot has been formed, and a second plate 152 supported in such a way that it can be slid in the vertical direction with respect to the first plate 150 by means of a rack-and-pinion mechanism 151.
A shutter 154 composed of multiple plates 153, which are embedded by varying the arrangements in a mutually different (staggered) manner, is mounted on the lower end 152a of the second plate 152, as shown in FIG. 36, which is a bottom view thereof.
Of these multiple plates 153, the plate 153a embedded in the center is shaped in an approximately doglegged cross section, and the other plates are shaped in approximately rectangular cross sections.
In addition, because the shutter 154 which consists of the multiple plates 153 is obtained by performing the embedding while varying the arrangements in a mutually different manner, the entire cross-directional region of the shutter 154 is covered by the plates 153 without leaving any substantial spaces in between when viewed from the front, as shown in FIG. 35.
Meanwhile, multiple holes 155a and 156a whose shapes correspond to the cross-sectional shapes of the multiple plates 153, as shown in FIG. 37, are formed in the upper and lower chutes 155 and 156 that form a bill conveying channel positioned opposite to the aforementioned shutter 154, in such a way that the multiple plates 153 that comprise the shutter 154 can each extend and retract.
According to the shutter means 132, as shown by a cross section of the main components of a front mask 122, when a bill conveying channel 127 is opened, and an inserted bill A inserted in the direction of arrow B is passed through, the second plate 152 is pulled up over a predetermined distance with the aid of a rack-and-pinion mechanism 151 that comprises a pinion 157a, which is composed of the spur gear of a shutter motor 157, and a rack 152b, which is formed in the second plate 152 and which engages the pinion 157a, whereby the multiple plates 153 that form the shutter 154 at the lower end of the second plate 52 retract from the holes 156a formed in the lower chute 156, and open the bill conveying channel 127 formed between the lower and upper chutes 155 and 156.
When, on the other hand, the bill conveying channel 127 is closed following the passage of the inserted bill A, the second plate 152 is pulled down over a predetermined distance through the agency of the rack-and-pinion mechanism 151 by means of the driving force of the shutter motor 157, as shown in FIG. 39, whereby the multiple plates 153 that form the shutter 154 at the lower end of the second plate 152 are installed into the holes 156a formed in the lower chute 156, and close the bill conveying channel 127 formed between the lower and upper chutes 155 and 156.
If the bill conveying channel 127 is closed by the shutter 154 in a manner such as that shown in FIG. 39 above, it is possible to prevent the forcible extraction of the inserted bill A in the direction of arrow C because the entire cross-directional region of the bill conveying channel 127 is closed by the multiple plates 153, even when an attempt is made to forcibly pull out the inserted bill A. With the aforementioned shutter means 132, the driving force of the shutter motor 157 is transmitted to the second plate 152 via the rack-and-pinion mechanism 151 in a manner such as that shown in FIG. 38, thus pulling down the second plate 152 over a predetermined distance and closing the bill conveying channel 127 formed between the upper and lower chutes 155 and 156. However, because the second plate 152 is connected with the motor 157 via a rack-and-pinion mechanism 151 that develops a low frictional force between the engaged gears and has a low reduction ratio, as viewed from the side of the motor 157, the resulting disadvantage is that the motor 157 rotates at a proportional pace when the second plate 152 is forcibly pulled upward from the position in which the bill conveying channel 127 is closed, thereby tending to lift the second plate 152 and to open the bill conveying channel 127.